Brain state and consciousness
Brain state and consciousness is one of the most elusive yet fundamental concepts in psychology. Reflecting on the past, planning for the future and being mindful has taught us to be aware of ourselves and our environment. While the concept of consciousness may seem intuitive, it is difficult to grasp scientifically.
By the end of this section, you should know about:
- Defining consciousness
- The biology of consciousness
- A bimodal perspective
- Popouts and powerful stimuli
- The power of selective attention
Let’s take a closer look at them.
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Defining consciousness
In the early years of psychology, insight was central to the profession. Ladd (1887) and other psychologists defined psychology as “the description and explanation of states of consciousness.” But with the rise of behaviorism in the first half of the 20th century, psychologists focused on observable behavior rather than on the intangible nature of consciousness Mind and many behaviorists in the 1960s saw consciousness as a secondary concern, akin to the speedometer of a car—a mere manifestation of techniques effective
Advances in neuroscience in recent decades have revived interest in consciousness, particularly the relationship between brain activity and cognitive experience, and psychologists now define consciousness as the self and its environment and knowledge of his surroundings. It helps us navigate challenging tasks like learning to drive, allowing us to focus and process information from different sources.
Evolutionary psychologists argue that cognition provides us with a survival advantage by adapting to new circumstances, anticipating social cues, and functioning in ways that promote long-term survival
Despite these advances, the “difficult problem” of consciousness remains unsolved: how do brain cell interactions inform our cognitive experiences such as the taste of food or the feeling of fear? This question challenges our understanding of mind and brain.
Brain state and consciousness: The biology of consciousness
Cognitive neuroscience, the interdisciplinary study of brain function and cognitive behavior, aims to bridge the gap between consciousness and the brain. One of the most dramatic examples of cognitive brain activity occurred in a 23-year-old woman in a vegetative state. Despite showing no physical signs of consciousness, his fMRI scan revealed brain activity related to physical activity when he was asked to imagine playing tennis in his mind This shows that the brain can be active even without observable behavior, and gives us new insights into how the mind works.
Researchers also study brain patterns associated with subjective experiences such as thoughts and emotions. One theory suggests that consciousness results from spatially coordinated brain activity. When a stimulus activates enough neural activity, it crosses the threshold of conscious awareness.
Evidence of awareness? When asked to imagine playing tennis or navigating her home, a vegetative patient’s brain (top) exhibited activity similar to a healthy person’s brain (bottom). Researchers wonder if such fMRI scans might enable a “conversation” with some unresponsive patients, by instructing them, for example, to answer yes to a question by imagining playing tennis (top and bottom left), and no by imagining walking around their home (top and bottom right).
Dual processing: A bimodal perspective
One of the most exciting discoveries in cognitive neuroscience is the concept of “duality.” Our minds work in two levels: the conscious “higher level” which involves deliberate thinking, reasoning, and the unconscious “lower level”, which processes information in the form of and about and it is inherent
For example, when you see a bird, you know it’s a hummingbird, but you know nothing about all the details like color, shape, and processing movements.
Through a case study of a cerebral damaged woman (D.F.) who cannot see objects visually, but is able to perform tasks such as putting a postcard in a mailbox successfully This showed that the brain consciously recognized that the object in a separate form from the identification system actions.
Brain state and consciousness: Selective attention
Selective attention refers to how we focus on particular stimuli and ignore others. Our brains are processing a lot of information all the time, but our minds are strong enough to see only a fraction of it. For example, your senses receive millions of bits of information every second, but they store only about 40 in your mind.
A classic example of selective attention is the “cocktail party effect,” where you can be focused on a conversation in a noisy room but suddenly change your mind if someone calls your name. That focus is necessary to tackle complex tasks but can be disrupted by distractions, such as driving Demonstrated for the dangers of texting.
While multitasking, while seemingly effective, can impair concentration. Studies show that changing quickly, especially between complex tasks, prolongs reaction times and reduces productivity.
In summary, attention is a multifaceted process involving conscious and unconscious processing. Understanding how the brain generates consciousness, how we allocate attention between tasks, and how we make decisions continues to be a central challenge in cognitive and neuroscience.
Selective attention: The limits of cognition
At the level of consciousness, we are “blind” to most information we perceive, and perceive only a fraction of what is around us. This phenomenon was demonstrated in an experiment by Ulrich Neisser, Robert Becklen, and Daniel Cervon, where participants watched a video of players passing a basketball and were tasked with counting balls the more players in black pass. This inadvertent blindness, in which individuals miss explicit information when paying attention to a task, demonstrates the power of selective attention.
In a more dramatic demonstration of this effect, the researchers installed an assistant in a gorilla costume walking through a scene while participants were focused on a basketball pass first on and half the audience didn’t notice at all despite an obvious move like kicking the gorilla’s chest. Researchers have also explored other methods of selective inattention do nothing, such as “inattentional deafness,” where people focus on another word and you repeat a sentence (“I’m a gorilla”) can’t listen to how cancer on lung examination. Often radiologists looking for lesions would miss the gorilla image overlay on the scan. When we’re concentrating on one thing, our conscious awareness is often unaware of other events happening sim Change the blind spots and limitations of perception.
Dual Processing: Dual processing refers to the idea that the brain processes information through two distinct systems: one that is fast, automatic, and unconscious, and another that is slow, deliberate, and conscious. These systems work in parallel to help us navigate the world efficiently while still allowing for thoughtful reflection when necessary.
Blindsight: Blindsight is a phenomenon in which individuals who are clinically blind in part of their visual field can still respond to visual stimuli in that area, despite being unable to consciously perceive them. This suggests that some aspects of visual processing can occur without conscious awareness, likely through unconscious pathways in the brain.
Parallel Processing: Parallel processing is the brain’s ability to process multiple pieces of information simultaneously. This allows us to manage a variety of sensory inputs, such as sight and sound, and make quick decisions without needing to focus on each individual element. This contrasts with serial processing, where one task is handled at a time.
Selective Attention: Selective attention refers to the process by which we focus on one specific stimulus or task while ignoring others. This cognitive ability allows us to filter out irrelevant information and concentrate on what is most important at any given moment, though it also means that we can miss other stimuli happening around us.
Inattentional Blindness: Inattentional blindness is a phenomenon in which we fail to notice unexpected stimuli in our environment when our attention is focused on a specific task. Despite the stimuli being visible, such as a person or object, we don’t perceive them because our attention is occupied with something else.
Change Blindness: Change blindness is a form of cognitive failure in which individuals fail to notice significant changes in a visual scene. This occurs when there is a brief interruption or shift in the environment, making it difficult for the brain to register the changes even if they are large and noticeable once pointed out.
Brain state and consciousness: Popouts and powerful stimuli
Although we are generally unaware of subtle changes or disturbances, some stimuli are so dramatic or distinctive that they immediately grab our attention. “Popout,” is its name and it means where certain environmental features. Such as smiley faces between neutral texts demand effortless attention in our minds and a dramatic change seems to occur. Her gender-switching interview over the phone is so obvious that almost everyone sees it .
Brain state and consciousness: The power of selective attention
Often we don’t know much about what’s going on around us, even when stimuli are right in front of us, like a gorilla or a change in the environment Though this selective awareness allows us to do things but it also means that we can easily overlook important information This phenomenon, extended to visual and auditory perception, highlights the need for caution when multiple tasks or tasks requiring close attention hold our attention The power of selective attention is undeniable, but it also emphasizes the importance of focusing on its shortcomings.